Old Fashioned Christmas

Ahhhh.... just looking at this wonderful image makes me wish for the good old fashioned days at times - when things seemed simpler. KWIM? :) Anyways, I inked the Kinkade image in Sepia and sponged around the edges with Walnut Stain. Just a few items are highlighted with a bit of color along with all the windows. For the bold sparkle I touched up some areas with Diamond Stickles and then misted the whole card with Gold Glimmer mist for that all over shimmer. It's layered several times and popped off a pretty pattern I found in my stash. Not sure if you can tell from the pic but the ricrac is red velvet and of course the poinsettia is Prima. Just something pretty simple and quick... hope you like it! Well I'm off for a very busy day - last day of school before Thanksgiving break and today is Andrew's 30th birthday so we'll be going out to celebrate tonight! :D Yeah!!! Thanks for popping by today! :)

Shimmering Silent Night

Hello! Are ya'll looking forward to Thanksgiving as much as I am? I can't wait to spend some time extra with family, eat lots of fabulous cooking and just enjoy the good times that the holidays always bring! I also plan on taking some time to get myself busy, busy, busy and finish up on this years' Christmas cards. Here's one of the designs that I'm working on making multiples of. It's a 4x4 inch card and on the base, I stamped the gorgeous Amazing Grace Hymn repeatedly. I stamped, watercolored and cut out the poinsettia from Blessed Christmas. Then I stamped the sentiment and cut my layers. I added a jewel piece to the flower center, touched up the berries on the patterned paper with Christmas Red Stickles and popped up the flower and sentiment. Final touch - Gold Glimmer Mist! Just look at that sparkle! All in all, a rather quick card to make, the longest part being the cutting out of the poinsettia and it's worth it with as beautiful as it is. Thanks for stopping by today. Best wishes for a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving! :)

This Little Light of Mine...

Hello all! Sorry that I've been so very quiet the past few weeks and neglecting my blog!! Had another project going on that I was devoting a lot of time to - planning a themed surprise party for my dear hubby's 30th birthday! Wow, did it ever keep me on my toes not to let anything slip and to make sure I kept all my "tracks" well covered! I've planned many parties before but never a surprise party for someone that I live in the same house with. Anyways, the party went off without a hitch this past Saturday and he was totally amazed and surprised by it! And now I can breathe and stamp again. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... :)

Now as some of you may have guessed I've already started decorating for the holiday. Our tree is up and many other holiday decorations. I have to tell you that I've been inspired by the beautiful candles Dawn has made recently and so I stamped this simple candle wrap for in our living room. The candle holder and poinsettias are displayed with two cherished and well-loved family Bibles. The Blessed Christmas poinsettia is stamped in Jet Black on Real Red then I misted it with Gold Glimmer Mist, punched the bottom edge and layered it. I wrapped black velvet ricrac ribbon around the top and bottom and used a jewel charm to finish it off. Here's a closeup of the shimmer on it. Isn't it sweet? I love how it shines! And here's a card using the same poinsettia image watercolored and highlight with colored stickles. I paired it with some yummy SEI Foil Print Christmas papers and a bit of shimmery Martha Stewart ribbon. The little vintage charm reads Merry Christmas. Let me say the stickles really put off some sparkle! I had a hard time getting a clear shot of the card because of the shine it gives off!

Card Supplies: Stamps - Blessed Christmas; Ink - Jet Black, Real Red, Garden Green, Yoyo Yellow; Paper - Textured Chocolate, Real Red, White, SEI Mint Foil & Peppermint Bark Foil; Accessories - Ribbons, Charm, Deco edge punch, Corner rounder, Christmas Red Stickles, Holly Stickles, Gold Stickles, Pop dots; Techniques - Watercoloring, sponging.

I hope you enjoy a lovely day and that your week is off to a great start! I'm looking forward to a 3 day work week at school and then relaxing with family over the Thanksgiving holiday! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Blue Copper Christmas

Hello friends! Just popping in for a super quick post today. It's been a busy week so far. I hope those of you who participated in the Our Daily Bread designs blog hop enjoyed yourself. And don't forget there is still the Show Us the Shimmer challenge that ODBd is hosting through Nov 15.

Today I have another Christmas card using the new Luke 2:11 set. Kelley sent some gorgeous new SEI papers to try out and I couldn't resist doing this poinsettia in blue with copper accents.

Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

Card Supplies: Stamps - Luke 2:11, Linen Bkgrd; Ink - Versamark, Antique Linen, Bashful Blue; Paper - Chocolate Textured, Bashful Blue, Vanilla, Shimmer Copper, SEI foil patterns Rosice & Michov; Accessories - Metallic Ribbon, Gold Glimmer Mist, Copper EP, Glitter Flourishes by Making Memories, Pop dots; Techniques - Heat Embossing, Sponging.

ODBd Blop Hop ~ Show Us the Shimmer!

Happy November everyone! Welcome to the Our Daily Bread Designs November Release Blog Hop! If you came here from Deb's Blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened upon my blog but didn't start at the ODBD Blog, you can start there to join in on the fun! The reason is that there are secret words hidden along the hop which you need to collect along with the name of each Designer. When you have them all, you will return to the ODBD Blog and leave a comment saying you visited all the blogs and a special email address will be given so you can email Grace with the secret words you found and in the correct order to reveal a phrase. That's all you have to do for the chance to win the ENTIRE NEW RELEASE for this month! And the three AWESOME new Christmas sets could be yours! What a fabulous prize and just in time for the holidays! Oh and guess what ~ there's also an ODBd challenge for you to play in and win another great prize. More on that below....

For this month's challenge, Kelley sent the Design Team some totally gorgeous shimmery SEI papers along with a bottle of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. And our goal - create a holiday card that shimmers and shines! So I have two cards to show you today using the Blessed Christmas set. On this pink, brown and green themed card I stamped the poinsettia in Antique Linen and the verse over it in Walnut Stain. The SEI nonparelis ornament paper has a glossy glaze on the shapes and I placed some assorted Dew Drops over a few of the circle shapes for added dimension. After putting all the layers together and popping a few up I misted the front with Honey Dew Glimmer Mist. It added a very light greenish shimmer to the main image. I added the green ricrac and paper poinsettia to finish off the card.

Card Supplies: Stamps - Blessed Christmas; Ink - Antique Linen, Walnut Stain; Paper - Pretty in Pink, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, White, SEI nonparelis print; Accessories - Ricrac, Assorted Dew Drops, Paper Poinsettia, Rhinestone Brad, Honey Dew Glimmer Mist, Corner Rounder, Pop Dots; Techniques - Sponging, Glimmer Mist.

This next card I created for today's Featured Stamper challenge. I chose this pretty Christmas card to case. My card turned out being almost 6x6 inches and I changed the stamps and added a few more layers and embellishments. For the music print I used ODBd Amazing Grace Hymn stamp, distressing the edges and sponging over it for an aged look. I watercolored and cut out the poinsettia, misted it in Gold GM and then popped it up off the hymn. In the center of the flower I used a bit of Diamond Stickles and a clear Dew Drop. Once I put all the layers together with the foiled SEI marzipan print I misted the whole card several times using the gold. In the corners I used large clear Dew Drops and along the embossed scallop I used clear rhinestones. A bit of velvet ricrac in the corners and a red bow finished it off nicely. :)

~Here's a closeup of the Gold Glimmer Mist.

Card Supplies: Stamps - Blessed Christmas, Amazing Grace Hymn; Ink - Sepia, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, Assorted SU reinkers, Jet Black; Paper - Real Red, Garden Green, Textured Chocolate, White, SEI marzipan foil print; Accessories - Ricrac, Ribbon, Clear Dew Drops, Clear Rhinestones, Diamond Stickles, Gold Glimmer Mist, Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop Punch, Pop Dots; Techniques - Watercoloring, Sponging, Distressing.

I hope you enjoyed these two shimmery Christmas creations! I'm so pleased that you stopped by! Now from here you need to go visit Chris and after her head back to the ODBd Blog. And before you go, here' something you need to know - my secret word is "Lord!" Make sure you are keeping a list of all the DT Names with their secret word next to them and email that to Grace at the address given on the ODBD Blog at the end of the hunt! You have until 8 PM EST on Wed. Nov. 3rd to email the secret word/words each designer had! Remember...Once SUPER HAPPY STAMPER will win the entire November release!

And now about the November ODBd Show Me the Shimmer Challenge...
The challenge this month is to make a Holiday Card and make it SHIMMER! Think of all the many ways you can do that so this is a super easy and fun challenge. You can use anything from Shimmery Designer Papers and Glimmer Mists to Shimmerz and Twinkling H2O's.... i could go on but you probably get the picture. Just make sure it's also a Christmas/Holiday card. Everyone is invited to play along! You DO NOT have to use Our Daily Bread designs stamps to win, but if you have them, we LOVE to see them!!! Link your card to the Latest Challenge Thread on the ODBD Blog by Nov. 15th by 8 PM EST. There will be a $30.00 Store Credit given to the winner of this challenge! So get busy and show us the SHIMMER!!!

Candy Hog

Today's card comes to you from my Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen days! Thought I'd sneak it out of the vault for ya'll to see. It's an all-time favorite of mine and it always makes me snicker when I see it. Isn't it just FUN!!! When I got the idea I couldn't find a template for the web, so I grabbed the scissors and a folded piece of black cardstock and just went for it! And it was one of those rare times when it came out probably better than I was hoping. :) I then free-handed the web lines with a white gel pen and went over them again with glitter pen. The edges and center area are sponged with white craft ink. That lil' candy hog is from the old Stampin' Up set Cute as a Bug. He's embossed in black along with the sentiment from American Art Stamps. The candy pile is assorted Jolie sticker embellishments.

Hope you enjoyed this little fun friend! Thanks for visiting! :)

Card Supplies: Stamps - Cute as a Bug, American Art Stamps; Paper - Black, Pumpkin Pie, WW, Pattern by Colorbok; Ink - Versamark, White Craft, Pumpkin Pie, Yoyo Yellow; Accessories - White Gel Pen, Glitter Pen, Candy Embellishment pieces, Black EP, Pop Dots, Stickles, Ribbon; Techniques - Sponging, Heat Embossing, Shape.

Christmas Peek!

Wow! Can ya'll believe it's going to be November on Sunday? Thanksgiving plans are being made and then it will soon be time to break out the Christmas tree and decorations! Before ya know it the holiday season it going to be full swing! Are ya ready for the kicker - Only 58 more sleeps til Christmas!!! I don't know about you but that means I really need to buckle down and get busy on making our Christmas cards! Yikes!

I've made only a few so far but there are many more to go! I thought I share this rather quick and pretty Christmas card I created using one of the new November sets from Our Daily Bread designs, along with a Flower Soft topper and Vintage Christmas Flower Soft. this card is previewing a sentiment from the upcoming Christmas set, Luke 2:11. I embossed it in copper and added the Vintage Christmas FS around the candles using the Flower Soft glue. I love the way it turned out! The more I play around with Flower Soft the more colors I want of it!! And the printed Flower Soft cards are prefect for using sentiments and pulling of a quick but great looking card. :) The printed Flower Soft card is layered on Chocolate Chip and Garden Green and popped up off the stripes - Peppermint Bark Mint foil paper by SEI. Gorgeous stuff! :) I used the Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop Edge punch along the bottom and mounted it to a Garden Green card base. So what do you think? Thanks for stopping in today!

Fun Times!!!

For the past week, the NC State Fair has been entertaining many here in the area. We ventured out last weekend and had a fabulous time enjoying all the sights, sounds and smells that the fair has to offer! I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pictures from our evening out. :) Enjoy!

~A working grist mill

~Andrew & I, snuggling in the big chair!

~Andrew hanging with the "roadcone monster"!
~Wouldn't be the fair without the classic carousel!
~ Gotta ride the Ferris Wheel!
~Andrew rode this for the first time ever this year!
~One last look across the lake before leaving!

A Sock Hop & Senor Buho

Happy Sunday all! I'm just popping in to share what I created for the weekly Featured Stamper challenge. This week it's Rachelhope13! I found this sweet lil' Christmas card in her gallery and dug out a House Mouse stamp and some older Basic Grey Christmas patterns. I don't think I've used this stamp in years! Come to think of it I may have never used it 'cept for playing around with coloring it - no cards. Since my image is a bit larger then the one Rachel used, I ended up was a 6x5.5 inch card. I watercolored the mice and then spritzed the image with gold glimmer mist. The snowflakes are from Making Memories and it's hard to see just like the glimmer mist but the red ribbon is all sparkly. And now I think I'm gonna have to use this stamp more often, it's just darling! Well then again all House Mouse stamps are absolutely darling ya know! :)


Card Supplies: Stamps - HM Sock Hop, AYC1; Paper - White, Real Red, Garden Green, Chocolate, Basic Grey Fruitcake; Ink - Assorted SU reinkers, Jet Black, Walnut Stain; Accessories -Snowflakes, Ribbon, Pop Dots; Techniques - Sponging, Watercoloring, Distressing.

And before I go here's a card that I never got around to posting last week. This is Senor Buho! I made him for last week's Inspiration Challenge, using these tiles from the website that Stef selected. No stamping to this sweet owl, just all punches and circle cutters!

Card Supplies: Stamps - N/A; Paper - Textured Brown & Shimmery Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, More Mustard; Ink - Walnut Stain, Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard; Accessories - Assorted Corner Punched, CM circle Cutter, Ricrac, Primas, Rhinestones, Pop dots; Techniques - Sponging, Shaped card.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day! :)